New puppy owner? How to plan diet & exercise for your young dog?

What a cutie! I would follow his lead in the amount of exercise he needs. You are correct in that going running or prolonged jogging in a young dog is not a good idea, as their growth plates are still developing, so we recommend waiting until they are over a year old. Walks, however, and playtime outside with you are fantastic. If he is seeming like he is overly tired or not enthusiastic to continue walking, this would be a cue to slow down/stop. As he gets continued exercise his endurance will increase, just like a person starting to exercise.

Exercise: as much as Murphy wants! At this age, I don't push them if they seem tired, but offer several small activities throughout the day to help burn off the excess puppy energy. Water: free choice. Leave a bowl out and let Murphy drink when he is thirsty. If he is outside for a while, water should also be available outside. Food: it depends on the food you are feeding and the current weight of the puppy. Hill's large breed puppy is a good choice. There are feeding guidelines on the bag. For 15 pounds and under 4 months of age, Murphy should get 2 cups per day (or 1 cup morning and night). Go to this link and scroll down to "Feeding Guide" and then look at the chart, as it will change as he grows and ages. https://www.hillspet.com/dog-food/sd-canine-puppy-large-breed-dry NO RAWHIDES! As an emergency vet, I see so many issues with rawhides, it just isn't worth it. Look for toys designed for puppies and their very sharp teeth. I like Starmark toys/treats. Treats should always be given when Murphy is supervised to avoid any disasters. If you haven't already taken Murphy to the vet, now is a good time. He should have already received his first vaccination, and the vet will often discuss health and feeding and behaviors at this first appointment.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to PetCoach. Congratulations on the puppy! It can be overwhelming to start caring for a new pup. Rather than depend on weight, we will determine if a dog is at a healthy body condition score (BCS) by using a chart that gives a dog a BCS anywhere from 1 to 9, with 4-5 being ideal. This website helps explain this system: https://www.thedrakecenter.com/services/pets/blog/fit-or-fat-your-pets-body-condition-score-bcs I recommend feeding Leo whatever the recommended amount is on the puppy food bag. Leo should be eating a kibble dog food that is formulated for puppies or "growth". As much exercise as he wants to get is perfect! Puppies are very high energy, so this is nothing to worry about. He will eventually settle down, so enjoy the energy for now! I hope this is helpful!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Physical activity would definitely help. However, a lot of it comes back to the diet that is fed. It is not necessarily about the amount of cups but it is more about the caloric content in each cup. You can follow the recommended amount of food in the bag (though they tend to recommend a higher amount than needed) or preferably have your veterinarian calculate the needed intake based on the most current weight. I recommend you try the Science Diet metabolic weight management diet which works great for weight loss. Good luck and have a good night!

Although its a little hard to tell from the photo both of your pups look to be lean with good muscle mass. To assess body condition what you want to look for are a waist behind the ribs when viewed from above, and that you can feel but not see the spine and ribs. Young active dogs are certainly apt to be a bit leaner. You could certainly consider a diet for active large breed dogs, especially for the Dane mix. To figure out how much to feed you need to know two things. First, you need to find out how many calories are in a cup of your current food. This is sometimes written on the bag or you can go online to the foods website and typically find it. It would be written kcal/cup for dry or kcal/can for canned. Second, you need to figure out what the energy requirements for your dogs are. This will be different for different weights of dogs and for dogs with different lifestyles. A good website to go to to help you with this is the Ohio State University Pet calorie calculator. If you Google OSU dog calorie calculator it should pop up. This will show you how to calculate the energy requirement for your dogs based on their weights, and let you know what factor to multiply by for their lifestyle. Then basically when you know how many calories they should be taking in per day you can figure out how much to feed. Keep in mind if you do this and change the amount you are feeding, if you are seeing weight loss or excessive weight gain you will have to adjust the plan as it's not a perfect system. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, and congratulations on your new puppy! The most important thing is to feed Arjun a well-balanced commercial kibble designed for growth. Your Pedigree diet should cover that - just make sure that it is formulated for puppies. Beyond that, everything else is considered a treat (carrot, apples, egg, etc). All these treats should not total more than 10% of his total intake of food in a day, although you may feed more treats during this early stage of potty and obedience training. As for feeding times, I like to feed puppies 3 times a day at this age. Over the next month, you can reduce this frequency to 2 times a day. Each time, leave out a full bowl and let him eat as much as he wants. Then take away the dish after 15 minutes. This ensures that he eats until he is full, but ensures that he doesn't get bored of his food if it is available all the time. You should start giving more exact portions of food after the age of 6 months, as their growth will slow down significantly at this point and they will be more prone to becoming overweight. I hope this helps, and that Arjun is happy and healthy!

An indent at the waist is acceptable on many breeds depending on where it is and how deep. Your vet can evaluate “body condition score” any time. Here is a good link for more on body condition score - though note that it is really more for adults than puppies. https://oregonvma.org/files/Purina-Dog-Condition-Chart.pdf As for the feeding, the “all Life stages” thing is confusing, especially when they do not give a chart for puppy feeding. (Though the food is fine for non-large breed puppies.) The adult chart is probably a good place to start, but you may need to increase from there. When all else fails, I usually say, “feed to maintain body condition”. If Louie is looking a little thin, increase food by about 25-50%. If he seems overweight or is leaving food in the bowl, tone it down by 25% . You can also ask your vet to calculate an actual calorie intake for Louie based on his current weight and then use that to know how many cups to feed. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Louie!